Cabin Boy

Cabin boy

Most were no more than 16-years-old, but life was tough for a ship’s cabin boy. There was a lot of rigging to be scrambled up, decks to be washed, messages to be carried and watches to be stood. Some found their way onto the ship because they wanted escape. Others were only there because they had nowhere else to go and no-one else to support them. So it’s fitting that there’s a cabin boy by the entrance to the Schiffergesellschaft restaurant. Lübeck’s seafaring guild acquired the property in 1535. Immediately, Schiffergesellschaft threw its doors open as a tavern, serving food and drink to the hungry and weary, as it does to this day. But most importantly, Schiffergesellschaft was a refuge for those who’d been made widows and orphans by the loss of a seafaring husband or father. It was somewhere to eat and get a night’s sleep. Somewhere to be safe. Which is why this cabin boy has found the perfect home there.